My name is Eric Roach. When I was a kid, my dad would introduce himself to random folks as either Gregor Samsa (which seems a little on-the-nose) or Zirque Bois d’Arc. I guess the name made an impression on me, so now I’ve made a few albums under that moniker, and play around with different configurations and styles.
I’ve played in a bunch of bands over the years, from my high school bands, Halsey Taylor, The Larrys and Joe Band to blues bands in Portland Oregon (Mel Solomon and the Nightlightters and JC Rico’s Excalibur) and Nacogdoches (Cold Shot); from the 90s bluegrassy stylings of The Fencesitters (aka Fencecutters) to current rock and progressive stalwarts Lick Lick and Baby Got Bacteria; from the avant-classical Catalogue of Spiderfarts and the graphical/gestural Wank Tribe to award-nominated original musical theatre 100 Heartbreaks and I’ve Never Been So Happy.
I have released three Zirque Bois d’Arc albums: The Fall Will Probably Kill You, a selection of solo guitar instrumentals in the tradition of John Fahey and others, Things I Should’ve Done Better, a guitar driven instrumental album (with some of Austin’s finest musicians), and Songs About Russia, a collection of modern folk tunes I wrote about Russia. Here they are on CD Baby and Spotify (it’d be great if you followed me – I’d be much obliged). Previews and more info are in my EPK.
Here are some other ways to find out what’s going on
@zirqueboisdarc on the twitter
my youtube is neat – you can watch my beer drinking videos…
soundcloud will probably be fun
if you put a dot or a period or a point in my name and gmail I will get your message.